King Elk Forest put your hand in mine

patrol thread for merc trade. any welcome

She supposed she should get to work. If anything, Wren was a creature of habit. She had something to do now, something to protect, and she'd do her damnest to make herself a good member of the pack. A den could be found later - what was more important was to mark the border and also familiarize herself with Kingslend land.

The brunette huffed to herself, lifting her eyes to the place she had come from days prior. She'd start there. Roaming along the scent line, she'd pause every so often to mark. Her scent was faint compared to the other Kingslend wolves; she secretly hoped someone else would come along and help. But beggars can't be choosers.

"You are.. Wren, correct?" Their new Grazer that the King came across on her own patrolling. While normally it was but a stroll through the gardens of the forest, now that those gardens were slowly becoming frosted over, she started to wander to the borders. Now it was but a patrol, and upon this did she surprisingly met the other.

Eyes wandered to the body of the other, all brown as what the Deorwine's so desire. A perfectly blended in outsider, and surely someone that the rest would accept wholeheartedly, unlike those Célnes accepted. It was laughable as she thought so, how her brother not only recruited Sacnite, but Wren as well, while she had gained quite a few unholy to her mixture of power to the throne.

The only thing that presented how she was not their blood, was the deep blue eyes. When her own fire-fly eyes met her gaze, she smiled warmly at the other.

"Yes" the brunette would say, lowering her head in a respectful yet welcoming nod "I'm Wren" the confirmation was there. Her eyes glanced up at the woman who carried herself well "you are.. King Cenric's sister?" she dared guess, glancing at the warm smile the King carried toward her. Wren gave an awkward yet pleasant one back, indirectly looking at the woman.

"Wren Baines" she corrected, knowing the Kingslend wolves held stock in surnames. Another polite dip of her head was given. "m-my King, I was... going to patrol" Wren would say to her "if you wanted, I would appreciate you showing me the best places to mark. I... I want to pull my weight." And do a good job for everyone. To be someone to be relied on, to call on if they needed her. To... well, be a good pack mate and friend.

"Please, call me Célnes." Friendliness was key to a regime she so desired. An iron-fist can only go so long, and if loyalty was to be gained, it surely was not that way. Her father with his rigid ways never gained support in the throne, but she? Had gained but a few followers only due to a liars charm.

"I do not mind." She was nervous, and so the King flashed a warm smile to assure her so; there was no problem, "there is a young man named @Kiyoshi who frequently guards the borders, we'll follow his path." He was one of the constant wolves amongst the path, and non-surprisingly. Majority she found would rather guard the herds, but not neglect the borders too well. He on the other hand, didn't seem to interested in the elk, and the Deorwine did not mind that, but appreciated it.

"Do tell me, where did you come from before us?" Momentarily did her nose stuck to the ground to catch his scent, and doing so she asked the other a question.

"Thanks" she croaked, feeling the formality to be suffocating. As they began the trek, she kept a slower pace to allow Celnes the lead. Wren didn't know where she was going one hundred percent after all. "two places" the brunette would say, musing her travels "I came from two places before the Teekons."

Her birth-land and her home-land, she supposed. Or rather, her former home-land. "But I didn't truly live until I lived in the vista" Wren sighed, her eyes taking on a forlorn feature "I joined a pack of wolves by the ocean. Stayed there a year; defended their borders and hunted with them" But it all went to shit "but they disbanded."

She sucked in a breath. "None of them came with me when I said I was going. Guess they weren't very loyal friends."

"Loyalty is truly hard to gain, but once you have it, you know it in your heart." There was only a few individuals that Célnes could trust as well. She knew in her heart her brother would always have her side, but the same wasn't given to the youngest siblings, as Freobern was more devout then all of them combine, and Ken.. Was distant, and preferred to lie his way around the lands.

Then her dearest guard, who surely was in the background at the moment watching them so. @Germanicus stuck to her side at all times, even if he didn't appear so, she knew he would be within the shadows. Dutiful, and because he wasn't family, her trust in him was more then all the rest of the Deorwine's combined.

It was hard to gain, and even harder to trust any else. She wondered when the day would come, that Kingslend would pledge to the Kings, and not to the High Elk.

Blasphemy thoughts once more.

"You see we also take this lake," before them was the grand Tuktu Weir, "normally we would not claim a body of water, but being it is so close to our forest, we must guard it so. It is especially close to some neighbors that hide behind those stoney walls."

She nods, quiet but agreeing. She thought she had the heart of her old pack, but she supposed not. They had all abandoned her, taken to the wilds instead of going with their loyal beta. She wondered if they were still there in that realm, clinging stubbornly to the vista.

Celnes would point out a lake. Wren's eyes lifted, following her gaze. "Ah, so I can fish here after all" the woman sounded more cheerful about that. Her eyes drifted to the King "neighbors? Do you mean the Saints?" Having run into a few of them already, the brunette knew at least some to look out for.

Célnes nodded, and added, "if you find others not of Kingslend, please do warn them off. We do not harm immediately, but we won't back down." Mind drifted toward the old days of their larger home, where if anyone not from Kingslend would be chased off without a thought. Unless they were brown there was an asking to join and become a brethren, but every other wolf was treated with such hostility.. They could no longer afford to do so with such little numbers, and less power to claim so.

"They are our neighbors, but please be advised they have some.. Enemies, we do not get to close to them." They were on neutral terms, but by no means did she count them as allies. As close as they are, there is a wariness in the air about them, especially when her brother said that the group bragged on their enemies. What a foolish thought to do, especially if wishing to recruit.

Wren was silent, mulling over the talk of Saints and outsiders. She recalled back in her old pack, where the leader would greet each new face equally and with open kindness. But he was gone, and she had to move on. "I sparred with some of them" she utters to Celnes "but they kept trying to get me to join their side."

What would have happened if she had accepted Derg's offer? Would she have had a giant target on their back as well? Wren wouldn't have boasted about such a thing. She wouldn't have even joined a pack if she knew they had many enemies. Suddenly her uneasy feeling about Kynareth was confirmed and she was gladdened she had rejected it.

The brunette went to mark another tree, brushing against it with her new pack scent before rejoining Celnes. "Do you know their crimes?" she asks now.